DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

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STudy Abrood England He smiled at my American occenT when I gave my order and seT abouT preparing scones and Tea. worm, smoky smell from The fireplace inviTed me inside The small Teoshopi BuT once inside, There was no one To be found. Anybody here? I ducked under low ceiling beams and Travelled The shorT disTonce To dork wooden Tables and wicker-boTTomed choirs. My quesTion meT only silence. BuT 0 cold and rainy Englond doy woiTed for me ouTside. so I Took 0 Table close To The fireplace and woiTed. Well hello There. A young man wiTh 0 Thick Devon brogue greeTed me wiTh surprise as he peered ouT of CI back room. ITCome in for o biT of Tea Todoy, did you? He smiles oT my American occenT when I gave my order and seT obouT preparing scones and Tea. TTAre you in ExeTer on Holiday? No, I'm sTudying CT The UniversiTy. I was always proud To say This-iT made me less of o foreigner. I belonged, 0T IeosT more Then The groups of American TourisTs ThoT Thronged The CoThedrol on sunny days and purchased whole villages of Tiny ceramic ThoTched roof farmhouses. ThoT ofTernoon I escaped To The Teoroom, idyllicolly Tucked away on a very narrow lone, To console myself obouT life in o counTry ThoT sTiII confused and frusTroTed me, even ofTer olmosT half a year. TuTorioI ThoT morning had been Terrible. Miss Hole, how do you spell Czechoslovakia? The old professor, 24 whose face ofTen seemed kindly and dignified, singied me ouT of The small group of sTudenTs and now appeared sinisTer, absurd. I did noT see how This had any relevance To Ibsen's play The Wild Duck. I was Tired of his picky quesTions ThoT had no real bearing on our discussion, Tired of The mysTerious Things he scrawled in his black noTebook during our meeTings. I don'T know. My Tense answer plucked each word like a To-Tigh'r violin sTring. He direoTed The quesTion To The nexT person in The circle and irroTionol Teors ThreoTened To soil! from my eyes. BuT The smell and wormTh of Earl Grey Tea and The sighT of scones and sTrowberry jom reminded me of The good Things obouT England. The young man laid a creamy rose bud cup and ploTe before me. His friendly quesTions and The riTuoI of Team Time sooThed The Tension I feIT. I poured myself a cup of Tea and breoThed sTrengTh from iTs delicoTe perfume. Now back oT DePouw 0 year IoTer, I jusT opened my IosT box of Twinings Earl Grey Teo, which I crammed inTo my suiTcose CT The expense of o fraying roincooT and my fovoriTe pair of sneakers IefT behind. And when I flew in from London To JFK oirporT, harried by cusToms officials and exhousTed from carrying my loaded suiTooses, I sTopped in on oirporT snack bar and ordered Tea. eCoThy Hole

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STudy Abrood llOne day you love Japan and The nexT day you con'T wolf To geT home; back To The real life of o 'normol' American. even ThirTy! Oh no! I'll be loTe for my Troin! Have To hurry! Grob my obenTo box Ooponese sTyle lunch boxy and I'm ouT The door. ITTe kimasu! Luckily The Train sToTion is near, so l'm on my way To work in no Time. Change from Train To subwoy in ShinjukueThis is The worsT porT! The subs are so incredibly crowded The whiTe-gloved pushers have To hold people in while The doors close. Ten unbeoroble minuTes loTer we arrive oT my sToTion, passengers spilling ouT in relief as The doors open. Flosh my commuTer pass oT The TickeT goTe and begin The Trek Through Akosoko To my office building. TTOhoyo gozoimosu! Punch in oT 9:00 om. on The doTewhewl How in The world did a naive young Thing from 0 small Town in The MidwesT end up living and working in The world's second lorgesT ciTy? lT's o quesTion l'm sTill Trying To answer! AfTer o semesTer of sTudy oT Nonzon UniversiTy in Nagoya, Jopon, I moved To Tokyo To begin my MonogemenT Fellows inTernship wiTh ViTel Japan, The Tokyo branch of on inTernoTionol TelecommunicoTions neTwork. My Tokyo odvenTure began when I moved inTo The oporTmenT of Yukie Oso, exchange sTudenT oT DPU 4984- 85, and her sisTer, Mikiko. Sligthy lorger Than 0 RecTor single, our oporTmenT is convenienle locoTed only fifTeen minuTes by Train from Shinjuku, perhaps one of The busiesT shopping, business, and municipal governmenT cenTers in Town, noT To menTion o fovoriTe nighTTime spoT! When Trying To describe life in Tokyo, many words come To mind: on one hand iT is fun and exciTing, yeT on The oTher, H is difficulT ond frusTroTing. One day you love Japan and The nexT day you coniT woiT To geT home, book To The real life of 0 normal American. BuT Tokyo is like ThoT, full of opposiTes ThoT somehow manage To exisT side-by-side. For example, iT is noT uncommon To see a woman wrapped in o beouTiful kimono wolking doinTily down The sTreeT, ond righT behind her follows 0 punk sTruTTing along in his block leoTher jockeT 0nd skin-TighT jeons wiTh dork glosses hiding his eyes under 0 wild mone of block hoir bleached sTrowberry blond. And here in Tokyo, The Golden Arches and The Colonel are as well-known as The neighborhood sushi bor-ond jusT os crowded! Also, iT is hard To believe ThoT BuddhisT Temples ond ShinTo shrines sTill inhobiT hollowed ground omong The shadows of The oiTy's skyscrapers, buT There They are offering 0 relief from oil of The sTeel ond concreTe. Life in This chooTic CiTy hos iTs ups and downs, buT good memories will by for ouTnumber bod ones. Good ones like hanami in Ueno Pork where we oTe sushi under The beouTiful cherry blossoms and onched Thousands of Japanese drink Themselves inTo all kinds of craziness; oTTending c: TrodiTionol Joponese ShinTo wedding msuolly foreigners ore noT ollowedy where The bride poinTed her face whiTe and wore o gorgeous red kimono ond eloboroTe heod dress; going ouT wiTh friends from Wosedo UniversiTy To one of The many nomiya in Shinjuku; and The Time when l Traveled To Hiroshima and climbed To The Top of MT. SeTo on Miyojimo for o beouTiful view of The Inland Sea and HS sprinkling of islands. UnpleosonT memories will include The obsoluTe heorT-sTopping Terror of my firsT TTbig eorThquoke, The incredible rush-hour crowds; and The many frusTroTions of being 0 gaiiin, on ouTsider who is respecTed for being a WesTerner, yeT CT The some Time, scorned for being non-Joponese. WhoT? lT's olreody six o'clock?! Time To head home. As I bockTrock The sTeps of This morning, I walk by The American Embassy, counTless coffeeshops and Chinese resTouronTs, bars, and mm sTonds, ond There is The flower shop ThoT hos such exoTic hana. The subwoy is jusT os crowded as iT was This morning, buT mosT of The solorymen don'T mind because They have already sopped off for o few drinks. Walking Through Shinjuku, There are men hawking Snoopy T- shirTs, peonuTs, Japanese sweeTs, ond insTonT Joponese noodle dinners. i buy 0 paper To read on The way home. News of ioTe: rodioocTiviTy from The nuclear power plonT occidenT in Russia has reached Japan, on ulTro- lefTisT group Tired rockeT-bombs ond plonTed smoke bombs in various subway Troins To demonsTroTe ogoinsT The Tokyo Economic SummiT, Prince Charles and Princess Diana are due To arrive This evening for a Tour of Japan, and The Dragons beoT The Corp. WhoT a day! Check The mailbox for news from homee DePouw seems so far away and so long ogoleThen up five flighTs of sToirs and I'm home. Todoimol -Robin RoberTs